AS GRAZIERS reliant on run-off for stock water get nervous after the dry spring across western Victoria, borers Howard (left) and Paul Milne report they have been inundated with inquiry.
The Milnes, who have bases for their business Milne Water Bores at both Echuca and Forbes, NSW, said they had been run off their feet at the Elmore Field Days earlier in the month.
“We do a range of work for clients wanting different things, but there’s definitely been a lot of interest from farmers wanting to put down a bore to drought proof their farms and allow them to keep stock on,” Paul said.
Howard said groundwater maps made fascinating reading.
“There’s a lot of luck as to whether you’ll have groundwater or not through large parts of Victoria, but you can see there are some areas which have reliable groundwater.”
With the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline, most growers in the arid north-west of the state now have reliable stockwater, but the situation is less rosy in normally reliable areas such as the districts to the east and south of Ararat in the Pyrenees and Western District.
Tatyoon farmer Noel Barr said while rainfall had been reasonably adequate for crops, there had been no sustained period to get good amounts of water to run.
“We rely on run-off for our stock water.”
Mr Barr said he had some water in good dams on his property, but said he would have to rig up piping systems to get water to the right spots.
“We’ll have enough water one way or another, but we might have to pump water to troughs from those dams that do have water.
“It’s certainly going to be very tight for a lot of people this summer.”
Gregor Heard
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
